When the Titanic set sail there was plenty of hope and change to go around for all that were lucky enough to be a part of this historic event. When launched there was an aura surrounding this great ship, the unsinkable Titanic. This is akin to our recent election, another historic event, where hope and change was sold like so many steerage tickets on the Titanic. I reflect today on a T shirt I saw this morning – “Barack Obama – he got my back” and that image is haunting. Just like the image of watching all those smiling passengers board the majestic Titanic. The designers and promoters “got their back”, the Titanic was unsinkable just as Obama is infallible. Neither of these historic event can be seen as occurring free from outside influence. There was little warning when the Titanic hit the iceberg that cold cloudless night. And there was little time to do anything once the damage was done. We have had ample warning as our ship of state nears the economic iceberg made up of trillions of dollars of deficit spending. But, will we steer clear? There were not enough lifeboats on the Titanic and when the great ship sank many were forced to chose death in the cold waters of the Atlantic. There is no safety net for our economy now that the free market has been deconstructed. While we may not be threatened by the cold ocean waters we are most certainly in for a period of “sink or swim” while the ship of state starts to fill with the weight of debt. This is a ballast we just can’t carry now nor can our children and their children and their children carry it when we turn over the helm to future generations. We need to start pumping and hope we only hit with a glancing blow. If not, God help us…..